Friday, February 3, 2012: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Join Ann Arbor Film Festival executive director, Donald Harrison, and other voices from the Festival's past, this Friday evening as we celebrate the Festival's 50th anniversary with the launch the Ann Arbor Film Festival Archive. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the AAFF, Donald will present some behind-the-scenes stories from the longest-running independent and experimental film festival in North America. AADL staff will also offer a sneak peek into Ann Arbor Film Festival Archive, which launches that night. This website will provide access to historical Festival programs, flyers, posters, photographs, articles from the Ann Arbor News and Ann Arbor Sun, and other documents from the Festival's past. Light refreshments will be served.

If you are searching for biographical information about important people, click into Biography in Context. This valuable database offers reams of information on notable people from the past and present. Moreover, you will find news articles to help you place an individual life into historical context. Access to this and any of our other reference databases and resources is available at every branch of the AADL, as well as from outside the library with a valid AADL library card. For access from an outside location, please sign in to your library account, visit our reference database page, and navigate to the desired resource. To access Biography in Context, go to the research page, and select Biography in Context from the History and Biography category.

Parthenon Interior

Several local restaurants have recently joined the ever-expanding list of Ann Arbor's Lost Eateries. Champion House closed suddenly last week, as did Old Country Buffet over the weekend. But I was particularly saddened to hear that the Parthenon Restaurant, which has stood on the corner of Main and Liberty Streets since John and Steve Gavas opened in 1975, will be closing its doors. Later this year Cafe Habana, formerly located on East Washington, will be moving into 226 North Main.

The Parthenon has command of possibly the best-known intersection in town, located on the same corner as Cunningham's Drugs and Mack & Co. a generation earlier.

We found some articles, a photo, and restaurant reviews on the Parthenon in our Ann Arbor News clipping file and have digitized them here for you to savor. While you're at it, you can also read about the Flim Flam Restaurant, which recently closed its doors after 30 years in business. Don't miss the Flim Flam's recipe for their famous eclair!

The Ann Arbor Observer: Then & Now is a collection of over 130 local history articles published in the Ann Arbor Observer over the past three decades. This database allows readers to browse articles by topics such as religion, food, architecture, and gardening, as well as browse through the image gallery. The site is also searchable if you’re looking for a particular topic.

The Ann Arbor Observer: Then & Now is a great resource for those looking for a daily dose of local history, or for those looking to find out more about Ann Arbor’s recent past. To get you started, check out the images of AADL’s Traverwood branch being built and its grand opening in 2008.

To access the Ann Arbor Observer: Then & Now, visit the research page, and select Ann Arbor Observer: Then & Now from the Ann Arbor category.

Join us at the Downtown library for AADL's screening of "Black and Blue" on Wednesday January 18th from 7:00-8:30 PM. This is the story of the 1934 game between Michigan and Georgia Tech. When the Yellow Jackets agreed to play the Wolverines in Ann Arbor that season, they insisted on one condition – Willis Ward, the lone African-American player on the U of M team, had to sit out the game. Ward's teammates - especially Gerald Ford, Ward's roommate and a UM lineman - were outraged when U-M officials agreed to the demand. The incident galvanized UM students and the Ann Arbor community, which held loud and vocal protests against the decision.

Willis was later inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. Read the article from the May 22, 1981 issue of the Ann Arbor News.

The Ann Arbor News, established in 1835, was Washtenaw County’s leading newspaper for 174 years. Much of its content is available at Ann Arbor District Library in the microfilm collection, or on the Old News section of our website, but did you know that AADL also has an Ann Arbor News database containing all the issues of the newspaper from July, 2003 onward? It’s true! Browse through the issues day by day, look at an exact date, or search for a particular topic. Check the scores on that game you remember. Print off an obituary, graduation announcement or wedding notice. It’s all there. AADL cardholders can even do all this from the comfort of your own home.

Access to this database is available at every branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, as well as off-site provided you have a valid Ann Arbor District Library card. Log in to your aadl.org account to obtain full access to the Ann Arbor News.

Curious about the history of the homes and buildings around us in Ann Arbor? Be sure to visit our beautiful Ann Arbor Architecture Archive. Packed with a gallery of images and text about Ann Arbor's historic structures, this reference resource includes the full text of Historic Buildings, Ann Arbor, Michigan by Marjorie Reade and Susan Wineberg. Learn about old local breweries that were wiped out by prohibition, the Ann Arborites who had peacocks roaming their lawn in the 1800s, and so much more. For example, every year people from around the globe make pilgrimages to Rocco Desderide's grocery store here in Ann Arbor without even knowing it. If you have visited Zingerman's Deli on Detroit Street, then you've been to Rocco's too. Built back in 1902 by Italian immigrant Rocco Desderide, the iconic brick-veneered building, with bands of corbelled bricks fanning out above arched windows, served as the home of the Desderide grocery and confectionery business until 1921.

To access the Ann Arbor Architecture Archive, you can always go to the research page and select Ann Arbor Architecture Archive from the Ann Arbor category.

henry simmons frieze house

Looking for ways to expand your culinary experience? Check out Ann Arbor Cooks, an online collection of heirloom recipes and cookbooks from Ann Arbor area community organizations, churches, and businesses. Browse or search recipes, or view cookbooks in their entirety. The robust database includes access to Repast, the acclaimed culinary history magazine.

This neophyte cook particularly enjoyed Mother's Roast Chicken recipe, a simple yet delightful dish from the fully searchable and browsable cookbook, Like Mama Used to Make. Or, if you want to try something quite out of the ordinary, check out these beverage recipes from the The Every-Day Cook-Book and Encyclopedia of Practical Recipes for Family Use.

To access the Ann Arbor Cooks database, you can always go to the research page and select the Ann Arbor Cooks from the Ann Arbor category.